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OUR YUCAIPA | APRIL 2015 15 The statement doesn't describe the kind of support and love shown to my family as we experienced the worst tragedy of our lives. In June 2014 our baby boy, Sawyer, climbed into our backyard pool while we were on the opposite side of the house. He fought for a week at Loma Linda Children's Hospital, but was finally and fatally declared brain dead. Our family was ripped apart, a gaping wound that our perfect little Bam Bam once filled. We have a large support system of friends and family, without whom we wouldn't have been able to make it through. What we weren't aware of, however, is that our support system extended far beyond our friends and family. Our local community wrapped its arms around our family and provided anything and everything they could. Knowing nothing of our little family, except what they may have read in the blog I began while our Sawyer was fighting, that so many people shared through social media, local businesses reached out to offer so many of their services to us while we grieved, facing the preparation and planning of a funeral that never should have been. We can never show enough gratitude to the following businesses and individuals for what you have done for us: Emmerson Bartlett Mortuary for providing all of your services to us with only the kindness of your hearts, and for showing us the compassion and the delicacy provided when selecting caskets far too small for this world; Jose's Mexican Restaurant for offering to freely cater the gathering for us; Lighthouse Promotions and Event Planning for providing the supplies to host the many people who wanted to honor Sawyer's life at the post-funeral gathering; St. Francis X Cabrini Church for providing a beautiful venue and giving us the freedom to honor Sawyer in the way we and he would have liked; the Mesa View Middle School staff for the countless acts of kindness ranging from the setup of our house for the gathering to the food train setup for our family in the weeks after to the planting of a memorial tree on campus that I get to watch grow and thrive each day; the Learning Zoo Preschool for nurturing and being second mothers to our baby, making us so comfortable to trust him with you each week, and for dedicating the new sandbox, of which Sawyer ate most of the sand, to our Bam Bam; the Vasquez, Parker, Mitchell, and Norwood families for both honoring Sawyer at the funeral through song and setting up fundraising sites, unbeknownst to us, that were able to raise enough funds to get us through all of the costs accompanied with this tragedy; Loma Linda Children's Hospital – I can't say enough about the nurses and doctors who truly treated us as family. They made sure our baby was comfortable, talking to him, massaging him, and making us feel like we were their first priority. Thank you Loma Linda. Finally, thank you Yucaipa. We truly feel that we live in the best community in the world – a small town with the largest hearts imaginable. Thank you so much, from the bottom of our broken hearts, thank you. ~ The Pennino Family • www.prayersforsawyer.blogspot.com Our local community wrapped its arms around our family and provided anything and everything they could. The hardest goodbye… How Yucaipa helped us after the tragic death of our baby Sawyer Acts of kindness…